A Novel Approach
by owlcroft
Summary: Sherlock and John take on a new adventure! This piece will not be up long, so please take the time to read it now. Thanks in advance!


A Novel Approach

by

Owlcroft

"Look here, John. This is new." Sherlock slid his laptop across the desk to his flatmate. "There's a proposal for a book series about us. Do you know anything about their writing?"

"Hmm." John briefly scanned the few paragraphs on the screen, then reflected. "I think I've seen some of their stories. Very good, keep strictly to canon as established by Messrs. Gatiss and Moffat, and – this is the most important point – neither of us come off looking like idiots." He shoved the laptop back to Sherlock.

"A definite point in their favour." Sherlock steepled his hands and thought. "So they want to write a series of novels to fill in the two-year gaps between episodes, and only the studio is holding them up. I wonder how we can help?"

John lifted his head from his myofascial sheath studies. "Hold on. The studio is the problem? How's that happen?"

Sherlock held up a finger. "The studio holds the licensing rights. The creators are Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat and they are also producers. Dame Beryl Vertue – may her shadow never grow less – founded the studio and is executive producer. The BBC merely contracts with Hartswood Studio to show the programme but the rights lie vested with Hartswood. Unless they release the rights to the publisher -"

Here John interrupted. "Who's the publisher again?"

"Ebury, Random House's BBC department," was the reply. "They're interested in the book proposal, but can't do anything unless Hartswood releases the rights. At that point, they can contract this pair to do the novels and Bob would, as they used to say, be your uncle."

John shrugged. "Seems to me to be a matter for the fandom. Get the fans involved, especially the fanfic readers, get a letter-writing campaign or a petition started, convince the studio that the books are wanted and needed. Then it's all a matter of negotiation between the studio, the network, and the publisher, right?"

This time it was Sherlock's turn to shrug. "That's my understanding. But how to mobilize a fanbase, that's the issue. Post appeals for help on blogs, on – what do you call it – Tumblr? You know these things, John, you're a blogger. What would you do?"

"That's exactly what I'd do." John ran a hand through his short, sandy hair. I'd blanket the internet with info and appeals to the fans. Any and every site I could find. I'd ask the fans to repeat it all to their own favorite sites and blogs and get things stirred up. Get them to send emails and maybe even postcards to the people involved who make the decision. In fact, these people have a website – Bullpup Press -"

"Very cute name, that," interrupted Sherlock. "You remember in the original Conan Doyle story that you said you kept a bull pup."

"Well, that's a discussion for another time. With this problem, I'd try to energize the fans and get them communicating with the Powers That Be – politely, of course; you never want to tick someone off – but adamantly and persistently."

Sherlock typed in a new address and read silently for a moment. "Yes, they have Facebook and Twitter links on the Bullpup site. I deduce however, that they are not 'social media literate' and could use help with things like Pinterest and sending – what are they called? Twerks?"

"They're called tweets," answered John patiently. "Tell you what, we could help them out, you know. Spread the word ourselves. All we have to do is talk about it in a story posted to a fan fiction site. That would help rather enormously, wouldn't it?"

A nod and shrug were the initial answer. "All right, consider it done," said Sherlock Holmes.

_If you'd like to see original stories, adhering strictly to BBC canon, to fill in the now-traditional hiatus, please help us convince Hartswood Studio to release the rights to Ebury and convince Ebury to contract us to write the books. Visit our Bullpup Press website, which we can't link to here, to find out more – and thanks!_


End file.
